Sunday, October 25, 2015

Witch Watch: A 'golden apple' a day brings lovers your way

I made a vow a year or two back to track down every "Witch Watch" article in circulation on the internet and post it here. Then I proceeded to get rid of the internet because I was using it far too much and basically didn't post here at all. But the old research bug has returned and here we are.

In this Christmas 1975 edition we learn about the "golden apple" the orange. Being that I am red-green colorblind and already confused about the topic, suggesting that an orange is anything remotely apple-esque totally befuddles me. Luckily, Gundella doesn't delve into the terminology and instead goes for the interesting history and allure aspects.

Apparently, in the time of Shakespeare oranges were nature's Febreze. Pomanders, or oranges with a hole cut into the top, the pulp scooped out and the husk dried and filled with spices, were fashionable accessories to carry on one's person.

Oranges were also considered an aphrodisiac. It was believed that if one pricked an orange with a needle in various spots, sleep with it under their armpit and then somehow get another human being to partake of the fruit, he or she would fall in love with the pricker.

Minorcan men were known to singing holidays songs below the resident's balconies. After the seventh verse they would sing:

Blessings on the who who walled this house about.May the dwelling's owner hand a token out.Fruit or tart or cheesecake; we like anything.Say not 'no' to us who stand without and sing.

And the humbled host would pass out oranges to the carolers.

Gundella also offers up a recipe for "Fairy Butter" passed down by her grandmothers Thornton and Patterson:

Take the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs and beat them in a mortar with one tablespoon of orange juice and two tablespoons of powdered sugar. Work this to a fine paste, then mix it with an equal amount of fresh butter out of the churn. Force the mixture through a fine strainer onto a pretty little plate.